25 foreign universities apply to set up campuses in Malaysia
Afterschool
February 23, 2012
According to an article in News Straits Times, Malaysia has received 25 applications from foreign universities to set up their campuses here.
The latest to be approved were UK's University of Reading and Herriot-Watt University.
Applications have also been received from established overseas institutions to set up new private unis since their policies do not allow them to set up branch campuses.
Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Moh Khaled Nordin says that the applications came from developed countries - US, UK, Australia, Switzerland and also UAE, China, Nepal and Singapore.
He also expects more applications from Europe and West Asia.
He attributes this rising interest to Malaysia's stable political, economic and weather climate, as well as its strong quality control system (MQA), tax incentives and liberal higher education policy.
Recently, the QS ranked Kuala Lumpur as the 44th in the Best Student Cities Ranking 2012.
In 2011, Malaysia was also ranked 11th in the most popular country among foreign students.
MOHE expects more than 150,000 students to pick Malaysia as their study destination by 2015.